Saturday, April 16, 2016

Lead up to the Ruby Red Book Blast & Series Plans

I'm doing something special for Ruby Red this month that will include a giveaway (so make sure to check back on the 18th). Let me give you a little history on Ruby Red Booty Shorts and a Louisville Slugger. It has been expanded and re-edited from the original version that was released in 2013. That version was 22k and had been written to meet the specs for a holiday sub call, but didn't qualify. Instead, the publisher accepted the ms to be published after Christmas, so I changed the holiday in the book to match. The original version was fast paced, speeding through the plot with action sequence after action sequence. For the romance, I started that plotline basically in the middle of the romance because it opens with the sex scene and our two heroes jumping right into the relationship. To do all of that in 22k, there was a ton of telling. I thought the story was missing something. I know there are readers who love the original because it pulled you along through the action and adventure. But the character development wasn't there, in my opinion.After subbing to LT3, the editor came back with a list of things that could be done to make Ruby Red better, and I agreed. The manuscript went from 22k to 50k. The timeline and events were rearranged. The story starts when Diego was a pre-teen and we get to see his relationship with Denise, Hector, and his parents. We sit with Diego as tragedy strikes his family and he struggles with how he sees his brother verses what others see. We see why Diego decides to pick up the slugger. We are there when he meets Beck for the first time. And... well, you get the idea. All that telling in the original has been moved to showing.Because the story has been changed, it's not the fast-paced-race-to-the-end story that it once was. The speed has been exchanged to develop the the characters and their relationships with each other. The showing allows you to become invested in them.I wasn't unaffected either. I loved Diego first and then Beck, but while I was rewriting I fell hard for Hector. Before, he was a plot device, but with the rewriting he came alive for me. I wanted to go all momma bear for him. Now, I feel deeply about Diego's relationship with Hector.What do I have planned for the series? The plan is *knocks on wood* for the series to be six books. The challenge and danger Diego and Beck face is huge. In their struggle they will be joined by two other couples who will be introduced in Werewolf's Tale and a Druid Sword. The series will cycle through these three couples to come together in the end to help each other. That's the plan at least. :)That's the whole ball of wax on Ruby Red. :) Make sure you come back on the 18th and check out the double giveaway.

About Me

Lexi has always been an avid reader and at a young age started reading (secretly) her mother’s romances (the ones she was told not to touch). She was the only teenager she knew of who would be grounded from reading. Later, with a pencil and a note book, she wrote her own stories and shared them with friends because she loved to see their reactions. A Texas transplant, Lexi now kicks her boots up in the Midwest with her Yankee husband and her 80 lbs. puppies named after vacuum cleaners.
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